REVIEW | Benefit Brow Bar

Whenever I’m going on holiday, I always come up with a to-do list that I stick to religiously. Admittedly, this list is normally composed of clothes to purchase and beauty regimes to undertake… and these items tend to come before the more adult tasks like exchanging currency and purchasing insurance – but it works, okay? One of the tasks on the list, and probably the most important to me, after purchasing insurance, of course, is getting my eyebrows waxed and tinted.

It seems like a task that shouldn’t really have that high an importance, but myself and my eyebrows have a love/hate relationship that dates back to an incident when I was around 14 years old and got a bit too carried away with a pair of tweezers. Six years later, and I just can’t do them myself! I also like being able to sit by the pool without a full face of make-up, so the ability to tint them is also a god-send for me.

Knowing I was heading away, I booked myself in to the Benefit brow bar at House of Fraser in Glasgow (I’ve been to a few now, and it’s definitely my favourite location!). Normally I’d have phoned up or called in, but I noticed that there was a new online booking service available – I say “new”, I’m not sure how long it’s been there for to be honest! Probably just an oversight on my behalf! It was so, so much easier than having to search for the number and extension code; plus, not only does it offer a list of available times, but it also allows you to choose who you want to do your waxing! I wasn’t fussed about that, so I opted for it to choose at random.

Due to my student financial status, I hadn’t been able to call in for a couple of months, so my brows were in desperate need of being attended to (I actually didn’t realise how bad they’d got until I took the photos!); this was the state they were in beforehand, without make-up:

I never leave the house without drawing in my eyebrows, though, so this is what they normally look like; I didn’t get this photo in the same light as before, so they’ve ended up looking a little bit neater! Still needing maintenance though:

When I arrived at the bar, there was a number of people waiting to be served. I love having a look around anyway though so having to wait five minutes didn’t bother me! Eventually I got called over, and the fabulous Emma set to work!

One thing I love about this particular Benefit location is the fact that the girls who work there genuinely seem like they enjoy talking to customers. They’re all so, so friendly – I’ve never felt like they’re having to make conversation just because it’s their job. I also love that they offer advice on make-up techniques, but never push for you to purchase beyond what you’re there for. I keep making jokes about my finances as a student, but I genuinely don’t have the funds to be able to afford new products on a whim, so the fact that they’re not fussed about extra sales really puts me at ease.

It’s become apparent in past waxing sessions that I’m a ridiculously flinchy person… Like, the wax will only just be getting applied and I’m already squirming, it’s that bad. I’ve had times before where whoever’s been doing them has actually had to stop and give me tips on how to relax; but this time, I can honestly say that I didn’t even really notice any pain just because Emma had managed to reassure me. It turned out that she’d waxed a few of my friends who were going on holiday with me in the last few days, so we ended up chatting about that for most of the time!

Knowing I was going to be in the sun in the days following, she also made sure I had advice on aftercare to ensure I didn’t cause any damage to the area. I love a place that cares just as much about after you leave as they do about you while you’re in their responsibility!

So, this was the finished result – bear in mind, she had only applied concealer around the areas where there was a bit of redness (also really bad for that!); the only product on my brows here is the tint she’d applied beforehand:

*To anyone who noticed – I KNOW. I’m just as annoyed that I took a photo of the one brow for this, it upset my love of patterns too*

I absolutely adore my eyebrows after getting them waxed and tinted with Benefit, and this trip was no exception. I managed about three weeks before I had to start giving them attention again, which is pretty decent for me given that I’m forever finding strays! Being able to go that little while without having to worry about dealing with them is so fab. I admit that I’ve seen a couple of mixed reviews from people, but I 100% think it’s worth the £21.50!